My Boosted Articles in September

And the other things that are currently keeping me up at night

Good morning everyone,

I got up bright and early this morning because I felt agitated by how much I have to do today. I went downstairs, took a look at the dog, took a look at the clock and realized it was 3:45.

Okay, I have a lot to do but not that much!

So, I gave the dog a pat on the head and went back to bed.

Now it’s 6, and I think it’s safe to start writing because it’s not so early that it’s going to mess up my whole day.

The big thing nagging at me is the sink I have to install in my daughter’s room. You see, my daughter’s room used to be the kitchen in the upstairs apartment. I figured that as long as there was a sink in there already, why not keep it?

I’ve got two girls and we only have two bathrooms. Therefore, I figured another sink with a mirror might avert some conflict down the road. Speaking of that, I really should install a private sink for my wife somewhere.

The dog and I don’t need our own sink. We’re good with the pond out back.

The problem with this sink install is that the counter top is only 20 inches wide. I got this awesome sink free to review, but it’s just a touch too big. Actually, that’s the wrong way to say it, the sink is the perfect size. It’s a beautiful sink! It’s wide, it’s deep, I just have to figure out how to make it fit.

This brings me to plumber’s math which is a terrible form of mathematics. It deals entirely with curves and inside and outside diameters. It doesn’t help that not a single wall in my house is straight and not a single floor is level.

I guess I’ll just have to make a cut and cross my fingers. Meh, it will probably all work out. I’ve just been sitting up like Rain Man with chalk figures of various calculations dancing around behind my eyes. If it turns out good I’ll take a picture. If it doesn’t turn out good, I’ll never mention it again and you’ll probably forget.

So, I have to do the sink, this newsletter, a book review, and a chapter in the fairy book I write for my kids on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I’ll probably be able to squeeze a nap in there somewhere, there’s always time for a nap.

Boost

Anyway, I know that information about Medium’s Boost program is all the rage, so here are the stories of mine that were boosted last month:

1. Don’t Spray Your Text With Reader Repellent

2. I Know Why Rural Populations Are Vulnerable To The Lies Of Tyrants

3. We Must Strive To Be Worthy of the Love We’re Given

4. Writers Must Learn the Difference Between Objectives and Dreams

5. The Day I Lost Faith in the Stubborn Pride of Farmers

6. Rural Public School Made Me Physically Sick

7. Finding Your Way In Love and Life

Seven boosts out of nineteen total stories (37%). To be honest, I feel a couple of the ones that were overlooked were probably worthy of being boosted, but I’m biased.

A lot of people ask me about what Medium is looking for, but I think reading boosted stories is the best way to get an idea.

These days when I post on Medium, my ambition is to get a boost every single time. It’s becoming more frequent as the program continues to grow.

This whole program has been designed to motivate writers to produce better quality work, and I think it’s working. I used to write my stories, read them once or twice, and then send them off. These days, I’m finding I’m sitting on stories more often. That gives me the opportunity to come back to them after a day or two for another round of real edits.

I’ve changed some stories dramatically in those delayed edits. Sometimes they’re almost complete rewrites. There’s a big difference between “almost there” and “there.”

I think these stories are significantly better than what I was publishing five or six months ago.

The other thing that’s happening is that I’m publishing less often. I used to be closer to 30 articles per month and have gradually scaled back by about a third. There’s a balance between writing enough to keep your email list engaged, and writing so much that they unsubscribe. I think 20 articles a month is a good number, and anyone who wants more can jump on my Substack.

So far, my October is off to a relatively slow start as far as earnings go, but they’re not awful. Also, I’m at one of those points where I’m waiting for 3 good articles to go live (it’s better to spread them out).

Once I get the room remodel done, I might get back an article or two per month, we’ll see. I’d also like to have a little more time do to some painting. I’ve got a couple nice cartoons coming up in articles, including the one for today with the Writing Cooperative.

One final thought, Twitter has sure become horrible hasn’t it? I mean, there used to be some good commentary on there, now it’s all right-wing fascism propaganda. Seeing somebody share something awful is disheartening enough. It’s worse when you click on the comments only to find a thousand ravenous goons cheering and wetting themselves with excitement.

Sigh...

As always, leave any questions and comments below! Have a great week writing!